Chapter 12: Qi and Mana (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 12: Qi and Mana (1)
The final moment.
A split second.
Jonathan had clearly seen how Roman counterattacked.
'This is impossible.'
Just one step.
Any other move would have meant certain death.
If he had stepped back, he would have been struck by the momentum of the wooden sword. Even if he had dodged to the side, he couldn't have escaped its reach. Aura was an explosive force. Aura emission specialized in exerting instantaneous power, and the more distance there was to deliver that force, the more disadvantageous it became for the defender. Thus, it was only natural to assume that Roman—a mere ordinary human—was in grave danger. Yet, the actual outcome defied all expectations.
He had completely dismantled his opponent's attack range.
By taking just a single step forward, he prevented his opponent from fully unleashing his power. Then, with a slight tilt of his head, he boldly dodged the strike right before his eyes. It was a razor-thin margin. Even in a situation where his face could have been crushed, Roman subdued Chris with an unwavering posture.
Astonishing.
It defied all common sense.
For Jonathan, the reality unfolding before his eyes was simply impossible to accept.
'I... I knew nothing about Young Master Roman all this time.'
Roman was a fool.
Having personally taught him in the past, Jonathan harbored deep-seated negative feelings toward the boy, who used to give up without even trying. But the Roman standing before him now was different. Not only did he possess the temperament of a gambler who refused to back down, but his fundamentals as a swordsman were incredibly solid. A counterattack that brought down an opponent in a split second was no lucky punch. Only someone with impeccable fundamentals and the ability to instantly execute their thoughts could pull off a gamble that seemed impossible to anyone else.
A solid defense.
A fluid, water-like attack.
He was certain of it.
Roman's skill was not something that could be forged in a year or two; it carried the heavy weight of decades of experience.
'When did he grow this much?'
He searched his memories.
Just a month ago, he had seen Roman wandering the streets in a drunken stupor.
How pathetic he had been.
Shouting and causing scenes in public, his notoriety as the Fool of Dmitry only grew.
A pathetic excuse for a human being.
That was definitely the Roman in Jonathan's memory.
Yet now, starting with the Blood Fang incident, he had even defeated Chris, a genuine Aura Knight.
Just then, Baron Romero, who had been watching the spar beside him, spoke with a dazed expression.
"Knight Commander Jonathan."
"Yes, my Lord."
"What on earth just happened? Isn't Deputy Commander Chris a 2-Star Aura Knight, the pride of Dmitry?"
The Baron was just as bewildered.
It was a baffling sight.
Baron Romero needed an explanation.
He wanted to hear from Jonathan's own mouth the reason behind his son's sudden, explosive growth.
A brief hesitation.
Looking back and forth between Roman and Baron Romero with a complicated gaze, Jonathan finally offered the most logical explanation he could muster.
"...It seems Young Master Roman is a genius of swordsmanship."
*
Roman caught his breath.
His cheek stung.
He raised a hand to touch the painful spot—a drop of blood was trickling from a shallow cut.
'How pathetic.'
Chris.
He was quite skilled.
He knew how to aggressively pressure his opponent, and his eye for reading the flow of battle was fairly sharp.
The problem was...
'He is only "not bad" by the standards of this world.'
Having fought Ben Miles and the rest of the Blood Fang, Roman now had a grasp on the scale of strength here. With Chris's skills, he could easily sweep away dozens of men like them. Among the people Roman had met so far, Chris seemed to be the strongest, second only to Jonathan.
But by the standards of Baek Joong-hyuk?
He was at the absolute bottom.
Even a low-ranking foot soldier of the Demonic Cult would likely be stronger than Chris.
The final emission of Aura had been threatening enough, but it was incredibly clumsy compared to the methods used in Murim.
'It was an incredibly sloppy emission of Qi. I can't even comprehend why anyone would use Qi that way. It must be the power of mana Hans mentioned, but this world utilizes it in a completely different manner than we do.'
Curiosity stirred within him.
Aura.
He wanted to learn more about it.
Since this was the world he would be living in from now on, he needed to understand exactly what kind of power they wielded.
Just then—
"Bwahahaha!"
Baron Romero's booming laughter rang out.
Hearing Jonathan's answer, his face lit up with genuine happiness at the declaration that his son was a genius.
"My son, my eldest, is a genius of swordsmanship? Knight Commander Jonathan, are you absolutely sure of this?"
"Yes, my Lord. There is no other way to explain Young Master Roman's growth. It seems my own lack of ability prevented me from recognizing his true worth before. Young Master Roman is undoubtedly a genius."
"Is that so? A true genius..."
His face beamed. Baron Romero gestured for Roman to come closer.
"My son."
"Yes, Father."
"I haven't been this happy in a very long time. I am incredibly proud of you. Not just because you are a genius of swordsmanship, as the Knight Commander says, but because you, my son Roman, achieved something entirely on your own. I want to applaud you for that. If there is anything you want, tell me now. Rewards and punishments must be clear. For my son, this father will grant a special reward."
Romero Dmitry.
This was his true self.
Though he had been furious over his son's previous delinquency, he was, as everyone knew, a doting father.
He was simply clumsy at parenting and struggled to express his emotions properly, but he loved Roman with all his heart.
A reward.
The stage was set.
Normally, a son might laugh off such an offer, but Roman's reaction was different.
Clear rewards and punishments.
This was a way of life Roman was deeply accustomed to. The moment Baron Romero mentioned a reward, something immediately came to mind.
"I am aware that my military enlistment is inevitable now that the marriage alliance with the Lawrence family has fallen through. Since my two younger brothers who left for the capital cannot fulfill this military duty, I must depart for the battlefield in six months. Therefore, I ask that you grant me the authority to personally select the troops I will take with me. I would also like you to fund any expenses incurred during this process."
He was incredibly direct.
Baron Romero looked taken aback by the highly specific proposal.
"...Ho."
Military service.
It was a bitter reality just to think about.
For the Cairo Kingdom, a weak nation, sharing the kingdom's dangers in this manner was a necessity.
It was an unavoidable reality.
Married nobles could be temporarily exempted from military service, but seeing Roman calmly accept this fate changed Baron Romero's perspective.
He wanted to believe in his son.
This was Roman's life.
As a father, the only thing he could do was help his son spread his wings and soar.
"Very well. I grant you full authority regarding your military service."
"And I have one last request."
"Speak. As long as you continue to show me this side of yourself, this father will do anything for his son."
Perhaps because his expectations had previously been at rock bottom, Baron Romero's trust was now absolute.
Roman smiled faintly and looked down at Chris, who was still sprawled on the ground.
"I would like to learn about Aura from now on. For my private lessons, please assign the swordsman I just fought."
This unfamiliar power.
For now, it was time to learn a bit more about this world.
*
How much time had passed?
Chris opened his eyes.
As the bright blue sky filled his vision, tears welled up in his eyes before he could stop them.
"Ugh, this is so humiliating."
Defeat.
It was a baffling reality.
The fact that he had been defeated by none other than the Fool of Dmitry made him want to crawl into a hole and hide.
But what could he do?
That was reality.
The fact of his defeat to Roman remained unchanged. When he finally gathered his senses and stood up, he caught his reflection in a mirror. It was disastrous. Chris, who had always prided himself on his handsome, striking looks, now saw a fool with his two front teeth missing staring back at him. It was a situation as despair-inducing as the defeat itself. He hurriedly searched the training ground and found his broken teeth, but there was no way to put them back in place.
"...Should I just die?"
He was genuinely contemplating it.
But that wasn't the only problem.
Just as he was struggling to climb out of the abyss of despair, a bolt from the blue struck him in the form of an order.
"Wh-what?!"
"I know exactly how you feel. But Chris, this is the Lord's command."
"Commander—no, Master. This is going too far. I just lost to Young Master Roman and became a toothless fool, and now you want me to teach him Aura? Absolutely not. Even if my head rolls for insubordination, I cannot accept this."
He threw himself flat onto the floor.
It was an act of desperate defiance.
He never wanted to see Roman's face again.
Since their relationship had been ill-fated from the start, losing to Roman felt more humiliating than anything else.
Jonathan spoke.
"Let me make you an offer."
"..."
"Under the pretext of teaching Young Master Roman, find out exactly how he has changed. If you handle this task well, I will finally permit the transmission of the secret technique I've been holding back."
"...Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Ah, damn it."
Chris sprang up from the floor.
The secret technique.
The secret that had made Jonathan a 3-Star Aura Knight.
As someone who had always yearned for his master's secret technique, Chris simply could not refuse Jonathan's offer.
"No going back on your word later."
His voice was laced with annoyance.
In the end, Chris had crossed the point of no return.
*
The next day.
Chris met with Roman.
However...
Pfft.
Roman smirked.
Chris's eyes flared instantly.
They hadn't even exchanged a single word, merely looking at each other's faces, but that sudden smirk carried an incredibly obvious meaning.
'Ah, fuck.'
His missing front teeth.
Wind whistled through the gap.
Chris already regretted accepting the offer, but to achieve his goal, he had to endure this humiliation. Suppressing his boiling rage, Chris spoke with a feigned look of composure.
"From now on, I will explain Aura to you."
Aura.
A branch of mana, it referred to the power wielded by knights.
While mages stored mana in circles, knights fundamentally circulated mana throughout their entire bodies.
"The person who invented Aura was Emperor Alexander, known as the Pioneer. Unlike mages, he circulated mana throughout his entire body, discovering for the first time a method to strengthen the human physique. Aura refers to the power of instantaneously emitting this mana. The mana that normally disperses throughout the body is unleashed in a single moment according to the user's will, exerting immense power."
"..."
Roman's attitude was serious.
He didn't interrupt Chris's explanation, nor did he show any playful behavior.
Seeing Roman take the lesson so seriously, Chris felt some of his resentment subside.
"Actually, knowing the history of Aura isn't that important. Mana is a power that only the chosen can use; only one in a thousand can walk the path of an Aura Knight, and only one in ten thousand can walk the path of a mage. Therefore, it is crucial to first verify your aptitude. The bare minimum requirement to become an Aura Knight is to feel mana. Most people fail at this very stage. In my case, it took me half a year to feel mana, but honestly, even if it takes a year, as long as you can feel it, you are above average. In other words, it is a matter of talent."
There was a hint of pride in his words.
He was subtly bragging about himself.
When he, as Jonathan's disciple, felt mana in just half a year, Dmitry had gone wild, proclaiming the arrival of a genius.
Chris.
That was the kind of person he was.
However, Roman did not give him the reaction he wanted.
"One year. So that is the timeframe to judge one's potential."
"Yes. If you cannot feel mana within a year, it is practically best to give up on the path of an Aura Knight."
"Then let us begin with feeling mana first. Can you explain the method you used?"
"Of course."
His pride was slightly wounded.
But it was fine.
Once the mana training actually began, it would become crystal clear who the real winner was between Roman and himself.
'Even if Young Master Roman is a genius of swordsmanship, talent for mana is a completely different matter. This training will give him a taste of harsh reality. And as the days pass without him feeling any mana, he will realize just how incredible I am. Hehehe, now that I think about it, this wasn't a bad deal at all.'
He grew excited.
He had seen countless people despair over mana training.
Roman would be no different.
Hiding his inner thoughts, Chris began to explain the method of training mana.
"The method of training mana is..."
Following Chris's instruction, Roman slowly began to immerse himself in his own world.